Office & productivity software forum: "Microsoft word has not been installed for the current user"

I need help. When I try to open MS Word/Excel/PP I receive the following error: "Microsoft word has not been installed for the current user. Please run setup to install the application"

I am using Office XP Professional and it has been installed and functioning correctly since 2006 on my machine, however, last Tuesday (June 28, 2011) this error started popping up.

I have searched multiple help forums which have provided "solutions" date 2009 and previous, so perhaps this is an old problem that is now fixed. I have also tried the Microsoft support website but none of the fixes from there or other help forums have worked including reinstalling the software, editing the registry as directed by Microsoft, etc.

I have not made any changes to the users on the computer. I have created a "temporary" user and I can access the programs through that login, but still not on the original login. I am not sure if Microsoft pushed out an "update" or "hotfix" on Tuesday last week that caused this, but if so, can it be undone?

Please help. Also, I saw a post that Microsoft is ending support for XP products on July 11, 2011. Thanks for any help you can offer.

This is the administrator account on my computer. None of the fixes worked, and now Normal.dot is gone and will not come back. I ran Office XP repair and it did not fix it. Note that this problem also affects powerpoint and Excel.

1. Having one lone account and it being the admin is asking for trouble. I'll skip explaining why and ask you create another admin capable account and try it there.

2. Normal.dot is recreated when word doesn't find one.

BUT THAT'S A GREAT CLUE!!! A REALLY BIG ONE. When I see this happen I head to where that was and I take ownership or add this user to have rights and proper permissions to that FOLDER. I know, I know, who wants to learn that?

3. The fact it affects all the other apps points to folder permission issues or the old "my account is the administrator account" issue. Without that spare account we all stand back and watch the user's machine burst into flames.

I have already created a second admin account, and everything works fine using that account. However, I don't know enough to know why that is significant or what to do with the account where things are not working.

Can you explain why having one account as an admin is trouble? I don't understand that.

"Can you explain why having one account as an admin is trouble? I don't understand that."

It's a very good question.

Here's the scene. You have one single Admin capable account and use that exclusively when you use Windows. Then, suddenly, something happens to that account and you cannot log in to windows to try and fix it. That 'something' could be a malware attack, or a simple "Profile Corruption", which happens more often than we might think.

Without access to Windows, your options become very limited and often that means resorting to a complete reinstall of Windows.

However, with a 2nd Admin capable account, at least you have a chance of sorting the problem out by logging in to that 2nd account and seeing what can be done.

We are now seeing this in Windows 7, but at least with that new OS, when you load Windows for the very first time, you are forced to create your own account and the startup account that allows you to do that then hides itself. But even then, access to the hidden start up account is disabled by default.

But with Windows XP this was a common occurrence. No other Admin account was created and when the only existing account became corrupted, nothing further could be done. The misery it caused was very sad to see.

I had this problem and another tech sent me this information. It worked! Read the steps carefully and take your time. It will work. It's not difficult.

Some of the Microsoft files get corrupt permissions during GP security template application during installs and here is the solution to fix it.

Please follow the directions below and it will all be good again in no time.

1. Logon to system as local administrator 2. Open My computer and change the view (under tools > Folder Options > View ) to show hidden files and folders. 3. Now change directory to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Office\Data 4. Delete the files OPA12.dat & OPA12.bak (in some computers you may see OPA11 instead of OPA12. That is okay delete whatever 11 or 12 that you see there) 5. Restart the Word Program. 6. It will install and recreate those files (which got corrupted) again. You can now go to the user profile and launch Word successfully. 7. At the end please don't forget to change the View of the files to HIDE the hidden files and folder on step 2.

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If you're asking for technical help, please be sure to include all your system info, including operating system, model number, and any other specifics related to the problem. Also please exercise your best judgment when posting in the forums--revealing personal information such as your e-mail address, telephone number, and address is not recommended.

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